The highly popular Rally Retro Festival has been confirmed to return in 2023 with a huge field of historically significant rally cars and faithfully built replicas to take centre stage in what will be a day full of non-stop entertainment.
 
Taking place towards the end of February in Melbourne’s southeast, the retro festival is a one-of-a-kind event where owners of these iconic vehicles will get the chance to showcase them to the world both in action and on display. 
 
A total of 50 cars will be involved in the event, 40 of which will be taking part in demonstration runs on bitumen and gravel courses.
 
Featuring in the exclusive invite-only entry list are genuine works prepared cars from Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Renault and Mazda, while some highlights will include a works replica Ferrari 308 GTB and a genuine original Ford RS200.


 
Many of the cars involved in the demonstration runs have a rich history within the sport, ranging from the Australian Rally Championship cars winning between the early 1960s to early 2000s and Repco Reliability Trials cars to European and World Rally Championships cars. 
 
Although the field of cars itself is impressive, so are the individuals entered, with no less than 10 Australian champions and many more state champions locked in to be behind the wheel of these cars.
 
Also in attendance will be the ‘Voice of Rally’ Colin Clark, who will serve as Event Patron, as will Pete Schey, who returns from this year’s Dakar Rally. 
 
Run by the Historic Rally Association, Club Spokesman Alan Baker believed the event would be highly enjoyable for fans and competitors alike. 
 
“The Rally Retro Festival is the only event of its kind exclusively for rally cars in Australia where owners, who can’t enter a full rally due to eligibility, can have a bit of fun with them,” Baker said.
 
“The event also allows rally fans to see and hear these cars that are so often hidden away in sheds and rarely come out to play.
 
“Rally Retro Festival also re-unites the champion drivers and co-drivers from ‘back in the day’, and there will be rally cars coming from almost every Australian state - nowhere else will one see such a gathering of rally machinery in one place. 
 
“The Historic Rally Association trust that the Rally Retro Festival which has run since 2019, will continue to inspire the preservation and restoration of more significant rally cars from the sport’s history.”


 
Fans will be able to attend the event from 10am AEDT with tickets starting from $20 per car, while the demonstration runs will commence from 11am local time.
 
Click here for more information.
 
The 2023 Rally Retro Festival takes place at METEC Driver Education Centre in Bayswater North, Victoria, on Saturday 25 February.